1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of CNC machine tools; and, more particularly, concerns methods carried out by, and apparatus incorporated in, the CNC machine tool's integrated Controller which enable real-time interactive X, Y and/or Z compensation for changes in tool orientation and/or dimensions as the tool is moving along a predetermined path relative to the workpiece during a machining operation programmed into the machine tool Controller.
2. Prior Art
Typically, prior art machine tools have employed, and still employ, a CNC machine tool and integrated controller therefore which were, and are, capable of 3D and multi-axis movement relative to a workpiece during a pre-programmed machining operation; and, in some instances such prior art equipment has also been capable of, and programmed to conduct, certain other machining operations. However, in those instances where the machining operation requires, for example, contouring and/or shaping steps that, in turn, require tilting of the tool relative to two or more of the typical 3D X, Y and/or Z coordinates, serious problems have been encountered. In an attempt to resolve those problems, the CNC machine tool operator has been required to temporarily terminate the machining operation and employ the services of a CNC computer programmer to create an entirely new CNC “G” code program with new tool positions and definitions in every instance where a change is to be made. Such “solutions” were, and are, time consuming and expensive, generally requiring remotely located programmers and equipment, often interfering with other completely unrelated, but urgent, time-consuming programming considerations and/or schedules.
The following patents are representative of typical prior art machine tools and/or CNC machine tools, which can, and sometimes do, encounter such problems:                U.S. Pat. No. 6,225,771B1—Hammerle        U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,325—Kamiguchi et al.        U.S. Pat. No. 6,022,132—Schulz        U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,747—Link et al.        
Additional prior art documents of general interest include:                1. STORI, J. A. and P. K. WRIGHT. A constant engagement offset for 2½ D tool path generation. Proc. 1998 Intl. Mech. Engr. Congr. And Expo. (Anaheim, Calif., November 1998) MED-vol. 8, 475-481 (1998).        2. DeVOR, R. E., S. G. KAPOOR, R. ZHU, K. JACOBUS, I. LAZOGLU, S. SASTRY, and M. VOGLER. Development of mechanistic models for the prediction of machining performance: Applications to process and product quality. Proc. CIRP Intl. Wkshp. on Modeling of Machining Oper. (Atlanta, Ga., May 1998) 407-416 (1998).        3. FLORES, M. A. and T-C. TSAO. Supervisory machining control implementation using an open architecture CNC. Proc. Japan-USA Symp. On Flexible Automat. (Otsu, Japan, July 1998) 1157-1164 (1998).        4. GAJJELA, R. R., S. G. KAPOOR, and R. E. DeVOR. A mechanistic force model for contour turning. 1998 Intl. Mech. Engr. Congr. and Expo. (Anaheim, Calif, November 1998) 8, 149-159 (1998).        5. KAPOOR, S. G., R. E. DeVOR, R. ZHU, R. GAJJELA, G. PARAKKAL, and D. SMITHEY. Development of mechanistic models for the prediction of machining performance: model-building methodology. Proc. CIRP Intl. Wkshp. on Modeling of Machining Oper. (Atlanta, Ga., May 1998) 109-120 (1998).        6. KUMAR, P. and P. M. FERREIRA. Hierarchical control of flexibly automated manufacturing systems. Proc. Japan-USA Symp. on Flex. Automat. (Otsu, Japan, July 1998) 111, 1207-1214 (1998).        7. K. KOTHARDARAMAN, KUMAR, P., and P. M. FERREIRA. Scalable, maximally-permissive deadlock avoidance for FMS. IEEE Conf. on Robotics and Automat. (Leuver, Belgium, May 1998).        8. Pro/MFG Technical Meeting at the Omni Rosen Hotel, Orlando, Fla., Jun. 17, 2000 Compiled by Gene J. Maes.        